The Willits Theater Company, owners of the Willits Theater, was mentioned in the July 2, 1932, issue of The Film Daily. The company had been incorporated by A. G. Conquest, Viola Langer, and Anne Carville. The Willits is mentioned again in the January 18, 1935, issue of the magazine, which said that the house had been transferred to George Smith by A. G. Conquest and V. Langer.

In between these two items is one from July 23, 1934, that says that the Willits Theater Corporation had transferred the Majestic Theatre at Willits to George Smith. Majestic was the later name of the house that opened in 1913 as the Colonial. Taken together these items appear to indicate that the Colonial/Majestic and the Willits Theatre were two different houses, but it isn’t definitive proof. I’d still like to find a single item mentioning both houses.

Willits News 01/05/1936:“The Willits Theater is the new name of the local playhouse.” That local playhouse was originally called The Colonial Theater. Somewhere between 1916-1920 they changed the name to The Majestic, maybe because their supplier was Mutual Film Corp which was connected to Reliance-Majestic Co. All of this should not be confused with the original Majestic Theatre which opened in 1910 & closed in 1915 due to some fire damage & competition with The Colonial.

To answer your question Joe, The Colonial/Majestic/Willits Theater is all the same place with different owners & renovations. The original Majestic closed in 1915 but the building might still exist. Ukiah Republican Press 5-26-16 states that Ralph Duncan of the Rex Drug Company opened a new store in the former Majestic Theatre. Our Rexall Drug Store seems to be in the right place. Wish I could find a picture of it.